Paul Heckingbottom post-Southampton
The Aston Villa loan man broke the deadlock against Will Still’s side on Saturday
Preston North End loan man Lewis Dobbin felt the Lilywhites used a frosty St Mary’s atmosphere to their advantage on Saturday.
The Lilywhites made it back-to-back wins in the Championship as they ran out 2-0 winners at Southampton. It was Dobbin who broke the deadlock on 38 minutes, as he bundled home for his fourth PNE goal in all competitions.
In second half injury time, the contest was killed as Stefan Thordarson and Mads Frokjaer led a lethal North End counter attack - the latter smashing home from close range after a neat give-and-go with the Iceland international.
Seconds before PNE hit the front, Southampton supporters voiced their discontent at owners Sport Republic. Ferocious boos swirled around St Mary’s after both goals and frustration remained in the air post-match.
“Yes, we tried to use that against them a little bit,” said Dobbin. “I think in the first half, especially towards the end of the half, the fans were getting a bit frustrated and we could see that.
“So, just getting after them, making them a bit nervous, you could see it in their gameplay. Again, we just have to focus on ourselves and on our performance instead of trying to play off what they're going through at the minute.”
Reflecting further on the victory, Dobbin said: “We played some really good stuff at times, but I think we're really building as a group and I think it's shown on the pitch. It took a few attempts (to score) to be fair!
“It was a bit of a scrappy goal but as the coaches are saying to me all the time, I think they're the type of goals I'm missing a little bit. It was nice, but there's still a lot I can improve on in my performances.
“We want to aim as high as possible in this league this year, so consistency is massive. I think we've shown that over the start of the season we can be consistent and we can go toe-to-toe with most teams in the league.
“We want to be there towards the end of the season. We know how hard it is, we know how consistent we've got to be, but I think if we take it game by game we've got a real chance.
“It's good to have a big squad. A good, big squad with a lot of quality, with different types of qualities as well. If we can keep rotating the squad well and keep performing the way we are, then we can do really good things this year.”
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